Chapter 67 – The Shadowless One (8)

And for good reason. It was impossible by her standards for anyone to take a direct hit from the Fire Dragon Saber—a weapon that incinerated and destroyed everything—and emerge unscathed.

“You are not the only one who possesses one of the Twelve Treasures. The Ink Dragon Sword is also one of the Twelve Treasures, ranked third. It has more than enough power to block the Fire Dragon Saber. Besides, did you really think you could close the gap between us with that?”

As Yu-jin spoke with a sneer, Ju Yun-hui, unable to contain her rage, swung the Fire Dragon Saber again. A massive pillar of fire shot out, seeking to engulf him.

But Yu-jin formed an inky sword ki and brought his blade down, extinguishing the flames instantly.

“Impossible…”

Her trusted Fire Dragon Saber had failed. Ju Yun-hui was so stunned she couldn’t speak.

“People are coming.”

This commotion was bound to draw attention. Sensing their approach, Yu-jin quickly leaped high toward a building and shouted to Han Hyeok-jin and Ju Yun-hui.

“It will be difficult to settle this here. If you want the Ink Dragon Sword, then follow me!”

With those words, Yu-jin took off in another direction. Startled, Ju Yun-hui quickly gave chase.

[Go on ahead and keep him busy. I will calm these people down and follow you as soon as I can!]

At Han Hyeok-jin’s telepathic message, Ju Yun-hui nodded and pursued Yu-jin. She had to admit the difference in their martial prowess, but her lightness arts and movement techniques were faster.

Using her speed, her greatest asset, facing Yu-jin didn’t seem entirely impossible. But it didn’t take long for her to realize this was a miscalculation.

* * *

Yu-jin and Ju Yun-hui were on a nameless mountain in Chengdu. Yu-jin ran with all his might, but no matter how fast he went, he couldn’t shake Ju Yun-hui’s pursuit. Not that he ever intended to lose her in the first place.

Shhhwiik!

Ju Yun-hui unleashed the power of the Fire Dragon Saber, attacking Yu-jin from a distance.

She attacked from a range that allowed her to flee if Yu-jin counterattacked, forcing him to endure her assault. However, enduring the attacks didn’t mean he was getting hit.

“I wish you’d realize sooner that such simple attacks will never work on me.”

Kwa-kwa-kwang!

The flames, which had instantly destroyed trees and rocks, continued toward Yu-jin with undiminished force. But whenever he swung the Ink Dragon Sword, the flames were invariably extinguished.

“Gah!”

Enraged, she unleashed even stronger attacks, but they couldn’t touch Yu-jin.

No matter what she threw at him, the result was the same. Realizing that simply bombarding him with energy from a distance wouldn’t work, Ju Yun-hui stopped her assault.

She hesitated, unsure if she should continue attacking. With her ranged attacks failing, charging in for a direct confrontation would be nothing short of suicide.

“Hmm, are you annoyed that I can block so well while dodging all over the place? Then how about this?”

Yu-jin stopped running altogether and stood his ground. He even had the courtesy to spread his arms wide, making it easier for Ju Yun-hui to attack.

“How dare you mock me like that!”

Enraged by Yu-jin’s blatant toying, Ju Yun-hui gripped the Fire Dragon Saber even tighter. Given her status, she was not accustomed to being looked down upon by others.

Even as the Shadowless One, she was always the one doing the mocking, never the one being mocked. This lack of experience fueled her anger.

“Don’t think this is all I have!”

As a thief, she often faced a variety of situations and had therefore learned numerous martial arts. Among them was a saber art—an exceptional one created by the martial scholars of the Imperial Palace.

Shhhwiik!

Giving up on fighting from a distance, Ju Yun-hui charged at Yu-jin and swung the Fire Dragon Saber.

‘Wait! What am I doing?!’

The moment she rushed toward Yu-jin, Ju Yun-hui realized she had fallen for his provocation. Trying to face someone stronger than her head-on was a perfect act of suicide. And Yu-jin, who had been focused solely on defense until now, brought his sword down with force for the first time.

“Kyah!”

A shockwave that felt like it would twist her entire arm shot through her, and a groan escaped Ju Yun-hui’s lips. The flames of the Fire Dragon Saber that had protected her were powerless before Yu-jin’s sword.

“I’ll give you credit for awakening the Fire Dragon Saber’s power, but that’s it. To think you’d challenge me head-on with such skill… it’s laughable.”

With those words, Yu-jin swung his sword once more. Ju Yun-hui instinctively knew she couldn’t block the attack. But Yu-jin altered the sword’s trajectory and seized her neck with his other hand.

“I need you, you see. You know the location of something I desperately want. So I can’t just kill you.”

Saying this, Yu-jin moved to restrain her. But just then, a blade of sword ki flew toward him, forcing him to release Ju Yun-hui and quickly retreat.

It was a necessary choice, as he had nearly lost an arm. Yu-jin frowned and looked toward the source of the attack.

“You arrived sooner than I expected, former Shadowless One.”

“So you knew?”

“Of course. I even know that after retiring, you became the master of the Hanchon Sword Sect to cultivate it. The Fire Dragon Saber, however, was a surprise. Had I known about it, I wouldn’t have fought this way. Well, the outcome is already decided. I have no intention of harming either of you; all I want is a piece of information.”

But what came flying at Yu-jin was a joint attack from master and disciple.

“I told you it was useless. Though, I’m rather grateful you’re not running away. To be honest, if you or your disciple were to flee, I’d have no way of catching you.”

As Yu-jin spoke, a golden aura erupted from his entire body, and ten rings of energy shot toward the two.

Instinctively realizing the immense power of the attack, the two hurriedly formed their protective ki, but it was like trying to stop a tsunami with a single umbrella.

Kwaaaaaang!

A massive explosion erupted, destroying everything in the vicinity.

“My, my. This is why dealing with people who wield the Twelve Treasures is so troublesome.”

Wuuuuung!

The Fire Dragon Saber and the Ink Dragon Sword began to howl in unison. Han Hyeok-jin approached Yu-jin, holding the collapsed Ju Yun-hui in one arm and the Fire Dragon Saber in the other.

Han Hyeok-jin was now in a state of resonance with the Fire Dragon Saber. As a martial artist who had reached the Transformation Realm resonated with the treasured weapon known as a spiritual object, an immense aura erupted, making the very air tremble.

“I see. Unlike your disciple, you don’t rely solely on the weapon.”

Han Hyeok-jin ignored Yu-jin’s words and brought the saber down vertically. An incomparably greater force than before surged forward, seeking to swallow Yu-jin whole.

The wave of fire, which reduced vegetation and rocks to ash and melted the very ground, was undeniably a terrifying attack.

“If your opponent were anyone but me, that might have worked.”

Flash!

A golden light once again flared from Yu-jin’s body. One hundred and eight golden rings coalesced, forming a massive barrier that blocked the combined attack of the Fire Dragon Saber and Han Hyeok-jin.

In that state, Yu-jin utilized the Reversal Formula of the Absorption Arts, and the golden wall deflected the wave of fire elsewhere.

“Who in the world are you… Don’t tell me… Are you the current head of the True Dragon Sword Clan?”

Han Hyeok-jin asked, his eyes trembling as he looked at Yu-jin. The last strike had been an attack into which he had poured his everything.

It was powerful enough to take down even a master of the Profound Realm, yet Yu-jin had deflected it with ease.

As far as he knew, the only masters capable of such a feat were the Heavenly Demon and the head of the True Dragon Sword Clan. But Yu-jin couldn’t answer, merely staring at Han Hyeok-jin with a look of astonishment.

“Do you know something about the head of the True Dragon Sword Clan?”

“Seeing your reaction, you must be just the successor for now. But for the successor to already possess such power is a problem. You have the potential to become even more dangerous than the Heavenly Demon!”

Han Hyeok-jin shouted, gripping the Fire Dragon Saber tightly. He no longer cared about the long-held wish of the Shadowless Sect. He had decided that, no matter what, he had to kill Yu-jin.

It was a problem that someone who wasn’t a Shadowless One knew so much about their sect, and it was a problem that he was targeting them for some unknown reason. But more terrifying than all of that was Yu-jin’s very existence.

‘The head of the True Dragon Sword Clan once said that the only person who could be his successor was Kang Yu-jin. If that successor already possesses this much power, then in the future, when he makes his move, the martial world might witness a monster even greater than the Heavenly Demon.’

Kuuuuuoooooo!

Han Hyeok-jin burned his innate ki, drawing out all the power of the Fire Dragon Saber. The force was even greater than his previous strike. He was about to throw away his own life to kill Yu-jin.

“Haa.”

Letting out a light sigh, Yu-jin aimed the Ink Dragon Sword at Han Hyeok-jin. An inky light gathered at the sword’s tip. Gathering their power at the same time, the two men swung their weapons at each other simultaneously.

A wave of crimson flame and a torrent of inky darkness. A strike carrying one man’s life and Yu-jin’s Profound Heaven Ink Phosphorus Sword clashed at a single point. But the outcome was not long in coming.

Kwaaaaaaaang!

The Profound Heaven Ink Phosphorus Sword completely deflected the power of the Fire Dragon Saber and engulfed Han Hyeok-jin. Not stopping there, it erased everything within a twenty-zhang radius. Having caused such immense destruction, Yu-jin merely sighed with a look of regret.

“I was surprised that someone other than me knew that ‘secret,’ and I wanted to talk about it separately, but I guess it can’t be helped. Well, that’s not what’s important anyway.”

Yu-jin picked up the Fire Dragon Saber from the ground and approached the fallen Ju Yun-hui.

He had attacked carefully to avoid harming the fallen Ju Yun-hui, so she wasn’t badly injured.

“To ask where the latter half of the Primordial Chaos Divine Arts is, having just one person alive is enough.”

Yu-jin lifted the current Shadowless One, Ju Yun-hui, into his arms and vanished somewhere.

* * *

“Ugh…”

The woman who had lost consciousness, Ju Yun-hui, slowly opened her eyes. The shock from her fight with Yu-jin was so great that she stared blankly into the air, but only for a moment.

“Master!”

Her last memory was of her consciousness fading from Yu-jin’s attack, her master, Han Hyeok-jin, protecting her, and then him stepping forward with the Fire Dragon Saber.

Ju Yun-hui hurriedly tried to get up, but she couldn’t move. It was only then that she realized her entire body was bound in thick iron chains.